A 26-year-old man with a long history of IV drug abuse enters the ED complaining of fever, shaking, chills, and severe night sweats. The physician diagnoses his condition as endocarditis. Which procedure would be considered the nurse’s lowest priority when assessing a patient with endocarditis?

Which laboratory study is a definitive diagnostic tool and will guide patient treatment for a patient with diagnosed with endocarditis?

The nurse would expect the laboratory studies of a patient with endocarditis to reveal:

Which is the most important nursing intervention during pericardiocentesis?

The nurse understands that all of the following are common complications of pericardiocentesis except:

Which treatment would receive the highest priority in a patient with cardiac tamponade?

A 20-year-old man is admitted to the ED after being removed from a serious automobile accident. He sustained severe chest injuries as a result of not wearing his seat belt while driving. Chest x-rays reveal fractures to the second, third and fourth ribs on the left side. The physician diagnoses cardiac tamponade. The nurse should assess for which sign in a patient with suspected cardiac tamponade?

Initially, administering IV fluid to a patient with acute cardiac tamponade would:

The nurse knows that the most common cause of acute cardiac tamponade is:

The nurse is caring for a client with a history of endocarditis who reports difficulty breathing and the feeling of an elephant is sitting on the chest. What is the nurse’s first priority?

A nurse in the ICU is caring for a client who is experiencing cardiogenic shock secondary to endocarditis. The provider has just left new orders for the care of this client. Which of the following orders would the nurse most likely see in this client’s chart?

The nurse is caring for a client with endocarditis. The nurse knows this is dangerous for which of the following reasons?

A nurse is caring for a 49-year-old client who is recovering from valve replacement surgery. Three days after the surgery, the nurse suspects that the client has developed infective endocarditis. Which of the following signs or symptoms would indicate that this condition has developed in the client?